


The Unbinding

by BirchWindow



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Aged up characters, Ancient Egyptian Deities, Bill and Dipper are dating, Blood and Injury, But Maybe It Is, Demons, Established Relationship, Holding Hands, Human!Bill, Light Swearing, M/M, Mabel is very confused, Mabel's got cash, Magic, Magic-Users, No Sex, Tattoos, Things get weird, WIP, except not so happy, light fluff, like a big happy supernatural road trip, not in Gravity Falls the town, references to multiple cultures, the Grunkles are mentioned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-09 11:10:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7799443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BirchWindow/pseuds/BirchWindow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been eight years since Mabel and Dipper got along like the siblings they used to be. It's been four since Dipper disappeared and Mabel's been sitting pretty ever since. She has a nice house, an amazing dream job and she's making plenty of money all while trying to cover the pit of guilt that has plagued her since that night but she's finally starting to cope. That is until her brother reappears and this time he's not alone.<br/>_</p><p>“Shooting Star?” the blond strangers eyes widened showing of the electric unnatural blue color.<br/>She stepped forward mind not wanting to fully accept how the nickname brought back a nightmare she had long hoped to have not been so vivid anymore.<br/>“It’s me, Bill, look I need your help, I don’t know how we ended up here but-” She gripped her bat harder and raised it above her head ready to beat the shit out of Bill fucking Cipher. Oh she had wanted to do this for ages.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Second Circle

**Author's Note:**

> This first chapter is admittedly short but I just wanted to get this up to clear some space. Also grammar is not my strong suit so if you see any mistakes let me know so I can improve.

Chapter 1

The bleak darkness of the Long Island suburb was suddenly painted in blue light that etched across the quiet houses façade. The light bouncing through the large windows and casting their brightness onto the sleeping form in an expensive bed. She was startled awake as the light finally pulled back and her room was returned to its former grayness, all that was left was a faint prickling on the back of her neck. Glancing briefly at the clock by her bed she pushed her sleepy hazed mind to focus. A blue light had just come through her window; police maybe, but there were no sirens and no other flashes of light again. She slid out of her blankets, crossed the carpeted floor of her room and grabbed her baseball bat, effectively swinging it over her shoulder and setting her jaw. She approached the large bay window and poked her head out, grimacing at the large burned circle in her lawn, the grass still faintly orange with dying embers. Though it had been a good four years, she would recognize the perfect burned circle anywhere. In the absence of good light she slid her finger over the bats handle, feeling the carved sigils somewhat eased her growing fear. Ford had warned her that some people from certain circles in the underworld may try something like this, she had pushed off his worry and only agreed to the blessing of the house as to ease his fear, now she was wishing she had accepted his grand schemes before he had-  
“No, not right now” she whispered, gently chastising herself for her slip, she needed to focus right now. A deep breathe to settle her nerves and she slid out of her bedroom and into her quiet house. She cautiously stepped down her arching staircase cringing at the faint squeaking of the floorboards. Character, she used to think, now however she only cursed herself. Reaching the first floor seemed to take a lifetime as she finally exited the stairs with a final creak. Gently inhaling through her nose, she listened to the gentle sound of a quiet voice in the kitchen. She tightened her grip on the bat and slid forward, pressing herself to the wall of her hallway and approaching her kitchen door. She closed the gap between the slightly ajar doors and peeked inside, steading herself to see what evil, vile creature was using her kitchen to cook up her demise.  
The room was an inky gray with moonlight filtering through the large window over the sink. The light softly illuminating a rather short slim figure, the moon glowing off of gentle tanned skin and blond hair. At another time in her life she would have jokingly thought this man could have effectively played a lifeguard on Baywatch. The man turned away and sighed loudly rubbing his hands through his hair before turning away to the corner of the kitchen, which was dressed in thick shadows. Taking advantage of the strangers turned back she entered her kitchen silently and lifted her bat.  
“ We’re really in it now aren’t we, this is bad, really really bad, so monumentally bad I couldn’t even make-”  
He was effectively cut of by her bat crashing across his ribs sending him spilling onto the Italian tiles in a startled heap.  
“OW! Fuck, the hell, how’d you follow us we-”  
She cut off the man again, bare foot slamming into his stomach. This time he just groaned and tried to shimmy backwards towards the shadowy corner.  
“No” he groaned out “I wont let you take him”  
Confused she stepped forward entering the slice of moonlight, so that it illuminated her in all her old t-shirt and sport shorts glory, shoulder length brown hair still in bed head mode, brown eyes glinting dangerously.  
“Who are you and what are you doing in my house,” she said using her most authoritative voice she could muster, the one she usually reserved for interns at her work.  
“Shooting Star?” the blond strangers eyes widened showing of the electric unnatural blue color.  
She stepped forward mind not wanting to fully accept how the nickname brought back a nightmare she had long hoped to have not been so vivid anymore.  
“It’s me, Bill, look I need your help, I don’t know how we ended up here but-” She gripped her bat harder and raised it above her head ready to beat the shit out of Bill fucking Cipher. Oh she had wanted to do this for ages. But as she prepared to swing down and enjoy the sound of breaking bones a shape in the heavy shadows behind Bill shifted.  
“Mabel…” her heart stopped, no it couldn’t be, he… he was probably dead like Ford and Stan had said, like the police had said, like everyone had concluded after his disappearance.  
“Dip?” she squeaked out. Bill turned over, placing his back to her as he leaned forward and softly helped pull the dark shape forward. Her brothers face entered the moonlight, his dark brown hair cut shorter than she had ever seen it, his eyes looked clouded and pained, a glint of something she didn’t remember echoing in their depths. He smiled at her with that goofy smile she would have known even if she were 150 years old. He was her twin brother the one she hadn’t seen in too many years; the one she would remember and mourn at the gravestone that held no body. Maybe deep down she had hoped that he was alive but the way he had left her life she wasn’t going to fight her sinking dread and depression. She sank to her knees putting her at an equal height with her brother and embraced him. He smelled of burnt grass and fire and the forest. She had her brother back after all these years, she wasn’t missing her other half. She was on Cloud nine maybe even Cloud twenty if there was such a thing. Suddenly Dipper pulled away with a pained hiss and erupted into a coughing fit. She released him with sudden worry, just now noticing the wetness she felt coming from her brother and the metallic tang in the air. Bill rushed forward, placing himself in front of Dipper. His hands smoothly cupping her brothers cheeks, thumbs softly soothing his closed eyes. She pulled away almost tripping over her bat and rushed to the light switch. The kitchen flooded with warm light and she instantly felt sick. Bill was cradling Dippers slack form. His skin looked paler than it had in the moonlight; blood was slowly oozing from his mouth cutting a stark red line across his face. He was wearing a baggy t-shirt; similar to the one she would have worn to bed. Its light blue color looked worn and old but the bloody smudge coming from his lower abdomen was definitely new. She didn’t have time to care about her expensive kitchen floor when she realized that her brother was quickly bleeding out onto it and a dream demon who was now possessing some poor hot life guard was cradling him in his lap. This was something that she would have laughed hysterically at if not for it being real. She needed answers to her questions but as she rushed forward she could care less. She’d get them later she knew; these two weren’t going anywhere.  
~~~  
Mabel leaned back and sighed, her brother lying slack and slightly less pale on her stained guest bed, the silk sheets effectively ruined. Wiping her bloodied hands off on a less expensive but still moderately nice she glanced over her brother, the dawn light mingling with the lamp on the nightstand casting him in better light. His jaw was slightly scruffy, only barely concealing a thin pale scar running from under his chin up to his cheek. She frowned; her brother definitely hadn’t had that scar before. She leaned back further and with widened eyes she allowed herself to see her brothers unclothed chest. It was crisscrossed with complicated tattoos and scars covering almost every inch of his skin. The tattoos were all patterns and symbols and words in different languages that when she tried to examine to closely gave her a headache. Dipper had changed in the years he had been gone that was for sure, was he even her brother anymore she thought while taking in a pair of scars on his side that resembled gunshots. She pulled herself from her thoughts as her brother groaned silently in his unconscious state and gripped his hands into fists. She glanced down to the large wound she had just finished stitching on his abdomen and was surprised and slightly confused to find the wound had already begun to seal together with angry puckered skin.  
“What the hell” she whispered and slid her hand cautiously to the wound. It had been practically gushing dark blood moments before during her stitching and looked deeper than she could have thought possible to survive. She lightly scratched of some dried blood  
“It’s because of a healing sigil”  
Mabel jumped and spun around grabbing her bat with one hand and faced Bill Cipher.  
“I told you to stay in the other room,” she hissed out  
“What the one with the devil trap under the carpet? Sorry Star that doesn’t work on me anymore. And neither will that bat, at least the enchanted part of it.” He slid further into the room, blue eyes glinting slightly in the light. He held up his hands in what she was probably supposed to take as a non-threatening gesture but she wasn’t backing down that easily, certainly not to a demon, or whatever the hell he was now.  
“What do you mean it doesn’t work on you anymore” she narrowed her eyes slightly and turned, following his slow approach across the room, placing her body between him and her brother.  
“I’m a permanent meat suit now” he said plainly “full card carrying human, just like you Star, no more demon powers” His face looked relatively placid but beneath she could tell he was anxious, his gaze flickering to Dippers still form. She was slightly relieved, if what he was saying was true, she wouldn’t have been able to hold him off as a demon and defend her brother at the same time using her bare minimum training she wasn’t even sure she remembered. But she didn’t let herself ease that quickly, this was Bill Cipher the demon that had tricked her before and she damn well wouldn’t be tricked again. She stepped forwards and tightened her grip on the bat. If he really was human she could only kill him easier. A dull black throb began in the base of her skull. Bill stepped back a little.  
“As much as I love this new bloodthirsty side of you, I really don’t want to hurt you, I’m trying to be friendly here Star not enemies anymore, I’m reformed, I’ll even answer all your questions as a show of good will.”  
Mabel considered her options, she could get her answers from a not so trustworthy source or from her brother, now that it seemed he wasn’t at deaths door.  
She closed the gap between them and swung for his head.  
Bill ducked and lunged forward grabbing her across the waist and slamming them both to the floor. Mabel pushed her knees up catching whatever he was now in the stomach and pushing him off her. She flipped onto Bill and pressed her hands snuggly to his neck and proceeded to strangle him. He began to wildly kick out his legs and push at her arms, but Mabel set her jaw and kept the pressure firmly pressed down feeling slight enjoyment watching Bill Cipher suffocate. In a matter of minutes he stopped struggling and his unnatural eyes fluttered close. Mabel let out a breath and held the pressure for a second before realization hit her; she just killed Bill Cipher, the demon of all her nightmares since she was twelve He must really be weak if he was strangled to death. She smiled; Grunkle Stan would have gotten a kick outta this she thought. Bills eyes flung back open, an unearthly blue light emitting and she was thrust of his not so dead body and crashed into the wall. He rose up from the ground, feet barely touching the ground.  
“I’m not playing Star, I may not be a demon anymore but I still have some power and I could very easily kill you but I wont because your brother and I have an agreement.” His voice hissed out taking on a second more demonic undertone “I’ll explain everything to you now or we can wait I don’t really care but if you try that again I’m not bound by a deal, I will kill you.”  
Mabel glanced at Bill than down to where her bat had been dropped, her head was throbbing consistently and hurt like a bitch now.  
“Fine” she rose from the ground and winced slightly at the pain in her back where she’d hit the wall and approached her brother’s form on the bed, leaving the bat as a show of truce.  
The glow from his eyes flickered out and he swayed a little, much to Mabel’s small delight. She watched as he staggered forward and than took a seat on the other side of Dippers bed and reached for one of his clenched hands and slid his fingers between her brothers. She frowned, what exactly were her brother and Bill, she remembered back to when she had first discovered the pair, Bill had tried to defend him, had said he wouldn’t let her take him. All she knew was that things just got a lot more complicated. The pain in the base of her skull heightened considerably  
“You said something about a healing sigil” Mabel asked pushing the pain down and finding something else to focus on. She glanced away from Bills entwined hand and watched as he reached his other hand over to her brother’s chest and lightly grazed his fingers over an elaborate symbol where the ribcages two sides met, below where the heart was.  
“This boosts his bodies healing, it was very tricky to find and to set up but immensely beneficial in times like these” Bill said softly, a large contrast between the growling demonic voice he had spoke in before.  
“What do you mean before, what exactly has my brother and you been doing” she felt the familiar feeling of guilt scratch its way into her chest again, this was her fault, maybe if she had believed him all those years ago than maybe he wouldn’t have lost control, maybe she wouldn’t be having a conversation with a not-demon over her slowly healing brothers not-corpse right now.  
“I know I said I would answer your questions but I don’t think I should answer that yet, at least not without your brothers consent.”  
“Since when did you ask for consent on anything, Cipher?”  
“Things have changed Star and while you’ve been obliviously enjoying your success, building your empire and spending your money after losing your brother, Dipper and I have been achieving things you couldn’t even believe” he bit back darkly, making it clear that he wouldn’t talk anymore on the subject. Mabel sighed in both frustration and confusion  
“I thought he was dead” she replied weakly  
“You and I both know that’s not true” his eyes glinted sharply  
“How’d you get here?” she asked hoping to escape the road she could feel the conversation spiraling down.  
“Teleporting” he replied simply and Mabel let out a breathe as it seemed Bill was happy to let himself be led to other topics.  
“We were camping in Romania, when we were attacked by some very bad guys who want Dipper and I very badly. One of them had a sword and tried to kill me, Dipper put himself in the way and teleported us. He must have been stabbed before he could get himself away in time. I’m sorry about this, he’s hurt and its my fault” he turned and gazed at Dippers resting face and stroked his thumb over dipper hand. Mabel blinked, this was strange, the Bill Cipher she knew wouldn’t do this, wouldn’t talk about someone like this with this much tenderness, care and regret. She could feel a headache setting in. Mabel remained silent, letting Bill wallow in self-pity for a while and enjoyed the pained emotion on his face. She stopped herself, since when had she liked seeing people in pain, since when had she felt excitement at their inner turmoil, since when did she try and kill people. Realization dawned on her, what the hell had she been doing, she had basically strangled Bill to death earlier, not to mention hitting him with a baseball bat. She had been ready to spill blood, ready to bash in his skull. This coming from her, someone who wouldn’t even kill an ant in her kitchen and whose day would be ruined when she would see road kill driving into work. What was she doing, what was wrong with her? He’s Bill Cipher he tortured you, tried to kill all you ever cared about, of course you would want to spill his blood her inner voice replied. She pushed down the unsettling feeling in her stomach and continued to ignore the sharp pain in her head, get a grip Mabes.  
“How are you even a human, or not demon or whatever the hell you are. How is this even possible”?  
The same bad people that attacked Dipper and I preformed some ritual a few years earlier to steal my power, I was able to save myself from oblivion by grounding myself in a human body I created” he wiggled the fingers on his free hand  
“So you’re not possessing someone?” She felt a little relief at this new development, one less thing to feel guilty about.  
“Nope, my eyes are blue and boring and human, no yellow, no slit pupil” he widened his eyes and leaned forward a little, a sharp smile cutting across his mouth  
“Wait, who are these bad people that attacked you, why did they steal your power and why do they want Dipper so bad?”  
At that moment Dipper shot up in bed.


	2. Real Friends Get Tramp Stamps Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a lot of exposition in this chapter so bare with me, we will get to the good stuff soon, I promise

Bill crashed to the ground as his hand was ripped from Dippers and Mabel startled backwards knocking her chair to the floor as well. Dipper rolled off the bed and stumbled into the far corner panting heavily. His eyes darting around wildly and confused, the wound on his abdomen now looked like just another scar running across his chest, pieces of thread falling from his wound with flecks of dried blood. He made a swift grabbing motion in the air and a small black blade materialized into his hand.  
“Stay back” was all he could manage to say between violent intakes of breath.  
“Dip, its me, Mabel, your twin sister remember?” She said slowly trying to get around the bed and fallen chair without causing him to startle anymore.  
“M-Mabel?” he blinked a few times, the blade he was holding in front of him slowly lowered  
“Dipper, your ok, we escaped, your fine, I’m fine, were all fine” Bill said as he slowly eased himself up from where he had fallen. Clarity slowly seemed to return to Dippers eyes. He rubbed a hand over his face and dropped the knife and his arm all at once. Bill stood and approached reaching out a hand to help raise Dipper from the floor. Dipper accepted with no hesitation, his hand fitting snugly into Bills. Mabel watched from the other side of the room as Dipper looked into Bills eyes for a moment, gently squeezing his hand before he turned to Mabel. His eyes hardened but he still smiled.  
“Its been a while Mabes, how are you?” he finally spoke, his voice hesitated and sounded a little awkward around the syllables. Stepping away from Bill, he began his slow approach towards Mabel  
“How am I? You’re asking how I am when my missing brother suddenly appears half dead with Bill Cipher of all things clinging to his side?” She asked incredulously “I hope you are aware of how dumb that sounds, of how incredibly cruel it is to totally leave me like that, to let me believe you were dead and that it was probably all my fault, that-” Dipper interrupted her by engulfing her in their second hug in the last few hours, which was more than had occurred for the past 8 years of her life. She sank into his arms and realized with a small hick that she was crying.

The world was a blinding and engulfingly black, Mabel shifted and stepped forward letting herself she sink a little more into the blackness. Where was she, where were Dipper and Bill.  
“Bill” she muttered her voice echoing across the expanse. Pure rage and anger rushed into her. She would kill him. She would smash his skull in, disembowel him until he screamed for mercy, cut him piece by piece and let him suffer, let him feel all the excruciating pain that had been caused. She felt warm and wet and smelled the tang of blood in the air. All she wanted to do at that moment was to find Bill and rip his throat out. She craved death, needed to feel blood run down her hands, to smell its fresh scent and to bathe in it till she was something untouchable, something that could never be hurt and her revenge won sweetly. She could practically hear shrieks for mercy around her, she would make him pay, make them all burn.  
Mabel awoke with a headache splitting through her skull. Groaning she turned over in her bed and looked at her clock, it was two in the afternoon, she was lucky that she was on vacation now or she would be experiencing a serious panic attack right now. Mabel blinked for a moment and ran through the events of last night, Dipper was back and so was Bill Cipher, she frowned a bad feeling creeping into the pit of her stomach. Rising, Mabel pulled on loose sport shorts, ran her hand through her hair and prepared herself for facing her brother. She made it to the guest room door quicker than she had wanted, peering inside she was surprised to see her brother sitting up awake, Bill laying buried beneath a mountain of blankets besides him. Dipper turned from his book and made eye contact with her. He softly rose from the bed, glancing at Bills pile and approached the door. Mabel moved back into the hallway making space for him as he slid out of the room closing the door behind him.He greeted her with a sheepish grin on his face as he pushed stray hairs from his eyes, his birthmark becoming visible  
“Hey, uh do you want breakfast, or would it be lunch, you know this is kinda like the Hobbit with all the different meals the have-”She stopped herself before she could begin to babble even more. Dippers smile widened  
“Desigur, eu mor de foame, ultimul lucru pe care a trebuit să mănânc au fost Cârnați” He spoke smoothly then stopped “oh uh sorry, Bill told you we were in Romania right, guess I’m still a little… behind” he glanced around awkwardly.  
“I’ll take that as a yes” Mabel smiled, “I didn’t know you could speak other languages, I still remember your attempts at French in high school”  
“je parle français très bien merci ” He replied indignantly  
“votre accent pourrait utiliser un peu de travail ” Mabel responded enjoying Dippers slightly surprised face “what? I own a multi million dollar design company, French is very important, I’m still learning Japanese though”  
“Yeah I know, I’ve been following you in the news” Dipper replied sheepishly “I had all the newspaper clippings saved but we kinda left all our stuff in Romania” he said stepping into the kitchen and looking at the bloody trail across the floor. He let out a low whistle and rested his hands on his hips  
“Wow, I didn’t think I was bleeding that bad” he scuffed his sock over the dried blood and continued on towards Mabel’s refrigerator.  
“I-I’m sorry, your not even a little bothered that you almost died?” Mabel asked not even daring to touch the red streaks; she had had enough of her brother’s blood to last a lifetime last night. Dipper pulled out a carton of eggs and milk.  
“ Where is your frying pan?” he asked voice level  
“Uh, under the sink…” Mabel pointed and tried to catch her brother’s eyes but he was already turning away from her.  
“Look Mabel, transporting here was a mistake, I thought of you when I was stabbed cause I was afraid, this-” he sighed “this thing me and Bill are involved in is really dangerous, I’ve been risking my life for years now, but you haven’t, you were supposed to continue on being successful and happy and-”  
“And continue thinking you were of stuck in magical limbo somewhere, or dead or, or half dead. You think I’m happy being separate from my best friend. The way we left things sucked Dipper and I’ve been struggling with that for years and all cause you thought I couldn’t handle a few… scary goons!” Mabel exploded, all her pent up frustration finally coming forward in torrents. She couldn’t believe him, he had just come back and now he was telling her it was all a mistake, that he didn’t actually want to see her.  
“S-Scary GOONS! You have no idea what I’m involved with Mabel, and lets not forget, it was YOU who told me to leave and not come back, you wouldn’t believe me when I tried to tell you what was going on. I am only trying to protect you. This- this thing I’m involved with it’s dangerous and I don’t want to worry about you. I can’t lose anybody else to this. I- I just cant.” He was still facing away shoulders sagged as he clung to the frying pan. Mabel leaned back took a breath  
“I’m sorry bro bro, I didn’t mean to-” she wiped her eyes “I’m sorry about how things happened I was stressed out back then, I never meant for you to actually leave. Mom and Dad couldn’t look at me for a straight week after I told them about the fight” Dipper took a breath turned around and placed the pan on the stovetop.  
“What DID you tell our parents” he opened the pantry door and grabbed the pancake mix.  
Mabel sighed and stepped over the dried blood and sat at the counter, resting her head on her hands  
“I told them about the fight, well most of it, I skipped over the explosion and massive burned circle in the carpet”  
“Hey, I’m a lot better controlled now, just look how calm I am” he grabbed a bowl and began mixing the ingredients into batter. Mabel rolled her eyes  
“Then I said you ran out and I hadn’t seen you since” Mabel stood and pulled open her cabinet grabbing the chocolate chips and the edible baking glitter from her last trip to France and dumped handfuls of each into the batter until it was to her satisfaction. Dipper just watched with an easy relaxed grin.  
“So no accidental teleportation, no mysteriously disappearing into thin air brother?” Mabel met his eyes and smiled  
“No, there was none of that, the police only needed to know about one crazy twin roaming the streets” she nudged him with her elbow  
“Funny” he replied dryly and turned on the stove. Mabel walked back to the other side of the counter and took her seat, watching in comfortable silence as her brother smoothly measured out pancakes onto the pan. When he was done Mabel looked up and caught Dippers gaze  
“You gonna tell me just what type of shit you’re into, now that I’m clearly involved” Dippers gaze flickered down to the cooking pancakes and then back to her and sighed  
“What do you remember about what I told you that night?” his voice had lowered and his eyes had turned colder. Mabel swallowed  
“You told me that a powerful entity was trapped a long time ago and that now he was trying to kill us, that he had people everywhere that were hunting us down and going to drag us down into a pit to free the demon with our blood and bring about the end of the world.” Dipper exhaled and smiled  
“I was a bit dramatic back then and I didn’t know as much as I do now but I was mostly right I think”  
“You mean we’re being hunted down by evil cult members to be dragged into a pit somewhere?” Mabel chuckled a little  
“That’s exactly what I mean” Dipper replied with a straight face  
“Oh”  
“In essence at least. The demons name is Asmodeus, in the catholic faith at least, he has about a dozen others, all dark forces in nearly every ancient culture” Mabel shivered, why did that name sound so familiar. Dipper flipped over the pancakes and continued  
“ He was trapped, and still is, but he’s growing stronger and seeking power so he can break free. The way things work is if a demon kills somebody with high magic ability and power they can steal that and absorb it into themselves, it goes the opposite way too, if someone with magic powers were to kill a demon they would take that demons powers.”  
“You mean someone like you” Mabel interrupted, the dread in her stomach growing. Dipper pulled out three plates, placed a pancake on each and handed on to her.  
“Yes, someone like me, but also like you” he stared pointedly at her  
“What? I cant do all that fancy magic stuff” honestly Mabel was so confused she couldn’t really blame herself for not being completely blindsided by these new developments  
“No, you cant, abnormalities in the person usually represent higher level of born magic”  
“So like your birthmark?”  
“Yeah exactly, I think that’s why I have more manifesting abilities than you, but you still have some, we are twins after all” Dipper finished his first pancake and began setting more batter on the pan. Mabel took her first bite, it tasted like home  
“I’m not really following, how can I have magic but not” she waved her hands around “ cast any spells like Harry Potter?” Dipper faintly smiled  
“If my theory is correct you have a boosted magic potential but not enough to be able to manifest it in this plane, your just very sensitive to the presence of a lot of energy?” He poked at the pancakes cooking edges then set the spatula down  
“Sensitive?” Mabel swallowed her second bite  
“Yeah you can sense high magic levels, that’s probably how you picked up on my…control issues so easily” Dipper flipped over the pancakes, eyes looking far away. Mabel swallowed not letting herself think about that night anymore, it was still a sore subject no matter how the two tried to face it lightheartedly.  
“So if you… or me killed a demon we would absorb their power and become what? Super humans with demon power?” Mabel finished her pancake and went to take from the stack that Dipper had set aside on the third plate. He smacked her hand away with the spatula  
“That’s Bills” his eyes glinted “ and yes and no I guess, I’m not really sure, people can’t really kill demons, you can exorcise them sure but to kill them you need a special weapon” Dipper dropped a fresh pancake from the pan onto Mabel’s plate and did the same to his and Bills.  
“Well, what kind of special weapon, you mean something from like supernatural, a magic gun or something?” Mabel stopped herself from imagining Dipper as Dean, her as Sam and… Bill as Castiel, which was pretty ironic if you asked her  
“Um, kind of, the weapon has to be something called a demon blade meaning it has to be created by a demon. They’re essentially objects that are imbued with pieces of a demons influence or soul thing, whatever they have, Bill tried to describe it to me and I don’t really understand that but hey” Dipper shrugged and filled the pan back up  
“Ok so to kill a demon you need to have a weapon made by a demon? That seems pretty backward to me why would they even make those things?” Mabel finished her pancake and set her plate aside.  
“Well a demon can be killed by other demons but that’s like some taboo, or so says Bill at least. And your right the demons don’t usually make them, that’s what makes them so hard to locate. The good thing is though once created, a demon blade can’t be destroyed.” Dipper flipped over the pancakes and stretched with a wide yawn  
“Is that why you were in Romania then, you were looking for a demon blade?”  
“Yep and we found it too, had it in my hands and everything, that’s when we were attacked” Dippers relaxed face tightened again, he shifted his shoulders and stared down at the cooking pancakes  
“Where was it in Romania, please tell me it has something to do with Dracula” Mabel said trying to lighten the suddenly dark mood that had descended on the conversation. Dipper chuckled and turned his eyes back up to meet Mabel’s  
“Sorry it didn’t. You ever hear about the Hoia Baciu Forest?” Mabel shook her head. Dipper emptied the pan placing the left over pancakes onto his and Bills plate, turning the burner off and setting the pan in the sink before taking a seat himself and tucking into another pancake.  
“It’s a pretty old forest near the Cluj-Napoca district of Transylvania-”  
“Your sure this doesn’t have anything to do with vampires?” Mabel cut in. Dipper shoved her lightly and continued  
“There’s a whole bunch of paranormal reports from the forest, spanning from UFOs to ghosts and monsters. It’s a really cool place, anyway there’s this legend of how the forest got its name. Stories say that a shepherd disappeared into the forest with his flock of 200 sheep, after an extensive search of the whole place there was no sign of the shepherd or the flock, it was like they had just disappeared of the face of the earth.”  
“Ooookay, I don’t see how that relates to a demon blade?”  
“It’s the numbers that clued us in, Bill says that to create a demons blade you need a demon and sacrifices, at least 50 humans but 200 sheep would seem to suffice.” Realization dawned on Mabel  
“You mean the shepherd that disappeared made a demon blade? But how? Why? He didn’t have a demon did he?”  
“Bill says that he remembers hearing news that a weaker demon by the name of Conlectus had been captured by a gifted man in Europe around the same time frame. We suspect that the Shepherd trapped Conlectus and went into the forest with his sheep to try and force him to create a demon blade. We didn’t know if he had succeeded because he obviously never came back but we figured it was worth a shot. Hoia Baciu is also famous for a large patch of earth where nothing grows and I don’t know about you but that seems very demonic residue-y to me.” Dipper smiled and finished his last pancake  
“And you found it?”  
“Yep and you know what happened next” Dippers smile tightened. Mabel glanced down at Dippers shirt  
“Is that a Babba t-shirt?” She smiled and began to laugh. Dipper flushed and glanced down at his shirt  
“Hey this was my extra, my other shirt is blood stained and all our gear is still in Romania with the blade” he turned away from Mabel as she continued to laugh  
“Why don’t you just teleport back to get it, Mr. magician,” She said still giggling  
“You saw me after I got here, going that far is pretty draining besides they’ve already moved the weapon for sure, after we unearthed it they would move it somewhere we couldn’t just wander in and dig up” Dippers face became far away and Mabel recognized it as his serious thinking face. Sighing she glanced at the stack of pancakes on Bills plate.  
“Why do you trust Bill do much after what he did, you two are basically joined at the hip, I don’t understand” Dipper blushed a little redder then leaned onto the counter and turned towards Mabel  
“I was able to rescue him from Asmodeus’s forces after he was turned human, they were gonna kill him, gonna feed the last drops of power he had to Asmodius. I had to stop it from happening as much as I didn’t want to at the time but I’m glad I did. Bills insight on this stuff is invaluable and plus he’s not a demon anymore; he can feel real emotions and understand. At first I kept him far away but it was just easier to travel around without him bound and… we became friends…” he sighed and ran a hand through his hair “he’s not like he used to be, Mabes, I’ve been with him for about three years, I trust him, and you know that for me… that’s pretty unheard of” he looked at her and Mabel’s unease increased, Bill must have her brother wrapped around his little finger. But maybe he was right, three years is a long time, and the way Bill acted toward Dipper when he was injured… Mabel’s temples suddenly exploded in pain. She pressed her palm to it and leaned forward with a groan, stars exploding behind her eyelids. She was back in the black expanse for moment a strange low rumble echoed through her bones and she felt pure terror. Then she was aware of rough hands on her shoulders the other pressed to her temple where she had been clutching moments ago. A cold and clear presence washed over her and the blackness receded. Mabel opened her eyes only to see Dipper pressing his hands to her, a faint white glow emitting from them. He withdrew his palms after a brief moment, pulling back and looking into Mabel eyes with concern and fear  
“What was that?” she whispered she could feel the cold wave receding and the thick blackness lingering stubbornly in the base of her skull  
“Asmodeus” Dipper breathed out realization sparked into his eyes and he stood abruptly and backed up a little  
“this is bad, he shouldn’t have this much influence yet” He startled as Bill entered the kitchen, the same shirt form last night, a large red stain across it from dippers blood. He rubbed sleep from his eyes and looked at Dipper. His face became solid and his eyes glinted the unnatural blue Mabel had become accustomed to.  
“What happened, did she hurt you, I swear if-”  
“Bill it isn’t Mabel’s fault, its just… Asmodeus, his influence… I-Its grown, he’s… he’s in Mabel” he stepped back a little  
“He’s WHAT” Mabel jumped up too, she was panicking  
“We have to get her warded” Bill said moving forward, “before he gains even more and is able to control her too much.” He pressed a hand to Mabel’s head and recoils almost immediately. Dipper rushed by Bill  
“Pack your stuff Mabes we gotta move fast” she stood still for a moment, listening as Dipper thundered up her stairs and into their guest bedroom, presumably to gather what little stuff he and Bill still had.  
“Uhh, those pancakes are for you” Mabel gestured to the cold pancake stack on the counter, unable to come up with anything better.  
“No wonder you wanted to kill me so bad” Bill muttered and quickly grabbed the stack and began to eat as he made his way out the kitchen again. Mabel remained in the kitchen a moment longer and stared at the bloody trail on the kitchen floor. She blinked and then left as well, heading towards the stairs careful not to look into the deep shadows in the corners of each room, she didn’t want to know what was in there, she didn’t want to get warded. She didn’t trust Dipper and she certainly didn’t trust Bill. She flashed back to her dream, the feeling of blood running down her hands and shivered. She stubbed her toe on the stairs. What was she thinking, of course she trusted Dipper, he was her brother, her best friend. What about Bill, she winced and continued up the stairs, grabbing her bat where she had left it leaned against her bedroom door.  
___

They were out the door in twenty minutes. Mabel carrying a large duffle that Stan had lent her years ago and Dipper and Bill sharing a smaller bedazzled suitcase from Mabel’s more crazier designed lines in her second year of business. Dipper took the wheel of Mabel’s convertible with Mabel riding shotgun and Bill stuffed uncomfortably in the bag. It made Mabel smile seeing Bill have to sit sideways, lengthwise across the seat to be able to fit. Little conversation was said between the group as Dipper skillfully maneuvered himself onto the highway, heading away from Mabel’s home as fast as he could without arousing the suspicion of the law enforcement. It would be an awkward situation for all parties if they were caught with one presumed dead driver, a billionaire and a man who had no record of existing with an extensive bloodstain on his shirt. Unable to stand the crushing quiet Mabel turned on the radio to her favorite pop station and looked out the window. No party complained of the music choice and they all sat for another hour listening to Taylor Swift and Justin Beibers assorted hits on repeat. Mabel was far to nervous and anxious to take a cat nap, something she would have liked to do had it been a normal road trip, so instead she settled for gently rubbing the fresh sigil on her forearm that dipper had carefully drawn with a sharpie. It was a substitute ward he had said, meant for keeping the demons influence at bay somewhat until they reached wherever they were going. Glancing away from the passing scenery outside her window she looked into the mirror and set her eyes on Bills hunched form, he looked uncomfortable. Good she thought, he deserves some discomfort. Mabel narrowed her eyes and imagined herself fitting her hands around his tanned neck like she had done last night and this time not letting go till he was good and dead. He had to be weak, he obviously didn’t have unlimited power if how their fight had gone. She could kill him for sure, maybe not via strangulation. If she could get her hands around something deadlier, something like a gun or a-  
“Mabel?” Dipper snapped her out of her trance. She met Bills eyes briefly before turning to face her brother.  
“What?” she questioned trying hard to disguise the look of sheer panic that was creeping through her. She had been doing it again. Swallowing, Mabel focused on her brother and tried to ignore the pungent odor of blood that was faintly wafting around her head like a sickly cloud.  
“You all right?” he questioned glancing away from the road to her then looking back. Of coarse he wasn’t fooled, he was her brother after all, he could read her just as well as she could him.  
“I’m fine” she forced herself to give a straight smile “Where are we going?”  
Dipper didn’t look impressed but didn’t press  
“To get you properly warded from Asmodius’s influence, I honestly didn’t expect him to be this powerful yet, he must have killed another demon or something” he flicked his eyes to where Bill sat behind them. Mabel wasn’t too tired to pick up on how Dipper had just dodge her question, but since there was currently an evil demon influencing her she didn’t complain.  
“And why do we have to go somewhere to be warded, why don’t you just use your magic-y mojo on me and keep drawing these sigils?” Mabel gestured to her new marking.  
“Because I don’t have the right equipment and besides I’m pretty lousy at warding, and we need this done right” Dipper reached over to her nervously tapping fingers and covered them softly giving a warm smile before turning to the road again.  
“Equipment? How do you normally ward” Mabel stilled her jittery hands as Dipper withdrew his and placed it back on the wheel.  
“You’re not opposed to real permanent tattoos are you Star?” Bills overly chipper voice sounded from behind her and he leaned forward sliding his head between the two twins grinning. Mabel pushed down the urge to punch him in the face and turned to look out the window and began tapping again.  
“No, course not I already have one” she answered trying to keep her voice light  
“You already have a tattoo?” Dipper asked surprised “I mean, I always knew you wanted one but last we spoke about it, you were afraid of needles” Mabel could hear the humor laced in his words and gave an easy laugh  
“I got over it Dip, your not the only twin who’s changed” she poked a finger at him with a smile. Dipper squeaked as she poked his ribcage, She felt a small sense of relief that at least Dipper was still ticklish  
“So, what tattoo do you have then Star? Let me guess, a boyfriends name?” Mabel shook her head  
“ Waddles?” Dipper chimed in  
“No, I though about that though Mabel said chuckling slightly  
“ A Triangle with an eye?” Bill asked his smile widening as much as humanly possible  
“No, of course not” Mable said and elbowed Bill in the shoulder a little to hard but he didn’t even flinch  
“Ok, Ok I give up, what is it?” Dipper said smiling over at her  
“Weeeelllll, I don’t know if I should tell you. You did burn a perfect circle into my lawn and left bloodstains on my floor” Dipper rolled his eyes and Bill cackled  
“C’mon, Pleeeeeeeeeeaaaaasssssseeeeeee” Dipper whined and batted his eyes at her “ I didn’t mean to almost bleed out over your stuff” Mabel began to laugh along with Bill. Trying in vain to not feel a little disconcerted with their easiness at discussing this topic.  
“Fine it’s the date you disappeared” Mabel gave up and blushed a little, Dipper and Bill both stopped laughing. “I got it as a reminder of my biggest failure so I would never let myself forget” she said and glanced at Dipper who was staring blankly out the front window. Bill gave a low whistle  
“That’s not healthy at all,” he said and Mabel shifted a little deeper into her chair  
“It was a low point I admit it,” she said trying to break the silence “But at least I don’t have my entire body basically covered” she said jabbing at Dipper  
“Hey, this is all for my safety, I would probably be dead without some of this stuff” he said and rubbed at his uncovered arms that were practically a mess of languages and symbols.  
“So you have no just for show ones at all?” Dipper fiddled with his fingers on the steering wheel for a moment  
“No, of course I don’t” He said thoroughly convincing Mabel that of course he did.  
“What is it?” She said leaning forward mischievously  
“I just told you I didn’t have one” a blush began creeping onto his cheeks. Oh this must be good Mabel thought taking in her uncomfortable brother  
“Dipper, tell your sister what tattoo you’ve got or I will” Bill said leaning in close to Dippers ear and then pulled back and resumed his snickering from the back seat “don’t worry star it’s a good one alright, it’s-” he said before getting abruptly cut off  
“It’s Bills mark” he said meekly and glanced at Bills face in the mirror. Mabel sat back into her seat. This wasn’t what she was expecting  
“His… mark?” She said drawing her eyebrows up in confusion “Like a hickey or-”  
“NO! oh god no. Gross Mabel why would you think that?” Dippers looked like a full on tomato now as he refused to glance in Mabel’s direction.  
“Actually-” Bill began to say something before Dipper hit the brakes causing Bill to fall into the center console of the convertible, effectively shutting him up  
“Its just a little triangle, it allows us to be linked together and sense each others moods and stuff like that, it was in case one of us ever got captured or separated. So it technically isn’t just for show,” He said glaring at Bill almost seeming like he was the one that wanted to kill him instead of Mabel.  
“I was gonna tell her about the snake one, but yeah we have each others marks, mines a pine tree” Bill piped up, fully recovered from his fall and wiggled his eyebrows  
Where are these… marks?” Mabel asked trying hard not to giggle at her brothers absolutely embarrassed face. God she had missed him so much  
“The small of my back” Dipper basically whispered causing Bill to explode in a new round of laughing  
“I’m sorry, you’re saying you and Bill have matching tramp stamps,” Mabel asked before erupting along with Bill  
“They’re not tramp stamps Dipper said furrowing his brown and trying to not blush so hard  
“Totally are” Mabel was able to say in a high pitch shriek before continuing to laugh as hard as she could. Dipper stewed in his embarrassment waiting for his companions to calm themselves down. Another three hours or so passed with easy conversation passing between the group. Mabel trying hard to ignore the sparking pain in her head each time she let herself feel comfortable around Bill and found herself imagining the most gruesome death she could think of often throughout these hours. Conversation gradually petered out again as it began to grow dark, with Winter growing closer The night seemed like it took up half Mabel’s lifetime now.  
“We should look for a place to eat dinner and get some rest” Dipper finally brought up after he caught his eyes sagging again for the fifth time  
“Ugh, yes please, I’m starving” Mabel agreed, stretching her arms above her head and yawning. They stopped at the next town they came by and parked the car, climbing out with a symphony of groans as the stretched their cramped limbs and made there way to a small mom and pop restaurant lit by glowing pink neon. Mabel noticed the name of the restaurant was Nephy’s Fine Dining Dinner, geez what a mouth full Mabel thought before following Dipper and Bill through the door. The interior was what every diner looked like, a counter lay against the open kitchen and old worn booths were pressed against the large windows facing into the parking lot. The linoleum floor was sparkling black and the accents were in gold and pale orange. Dipper hesitated in the open walkway for a moment and exchanged a glance at Bill, the entire place was deserted, The customers in the booths that had been visible through the windows from outside weren’t there anymore, not even a cook was in the kitchen  
“Uh, ok?” Mabel stepped forward, she felt compelled too  
“Wait, Mabel, are you sensing this too?” Dipper said he looked slightly spooked and took a step towards her. Mabel furrowed her brows and concentrated becoming frighteningly aware of a prickling on the back of her neck and a slight unease in the air of the restaurant. Why had she stepped further into the restaurant everything was screaming for her to get out .She glanced over at Dipper and found him clutching onto Bills hand, both tense and ready, eyes searching their surrounding with a sharp and dangerous glint. Mabel edged her way back over to her brother pushing down the uncomfortable feeling she felt in her stomach when she in Bill and her brothers close proximity. The prickling increased and she suddenly wished she hadn’t left her bat in the car. The threesome edged back towards the door, it was ok, nobody was here they could just leave and stop at the next town. She assured herself only to stumble into Bills chest. She recoiled in panic as the touch sent violent shivers into her body and she immediately felt sick. Bill looked slightly confused but stepped away as Mabel steadied herself and pushed at the door. It didn’t budge, Bill paused before giving it another violent shove. Dipper joined him and mashed his shoulder into the door as well. It didn’t even make the usual creaking that most doors made. Dipper pulled in a deep breath and turned away from the door, pulling Mabel roughly behind him. He made a grasping motion in the air and instead of the small black blade he had materialized before a long double edged samurai looking sword appeared, its metal edges glinted dangerously and sharp, the handle a woven and worn looking red. Bill stepped besides Dipper and pulled a large kitchen knife from the waist of his jeans, the sleek metal side of the blade marred by black squiggles that Mabel guessed were the same type of thing as her bat. She instantly recognized the sleek deep maroon of the handle as one of her very own knives from her designer set she had ordered for her kitchen, that little thief. She thought darkly and considered taking him by surprise as he now had his back to her, but before she could even contemplate how best to kill him in this situation a woman appeared from the door that led to the back storage of the diner and smiled brightly at the three.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used google translate for the Romanian and french so if anyone has corrections for that I would be extremely grateful.  
> Again thank you for reading the second chapter, Kudos and comments are much appreciated.
> 
> Translations  
> Dip: Of course, The last thing I had to eat was Carnati (type of dried meat common in Romania)  
> Dip: My French is just fine thank you  
> Mab: Your accent could use some work


	3. Support Local businesses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize immensely for how late this chapter is. School has been a bitch but I have found ample time to procrastinate on school work and work on this chapter today. I will try to make updates semi regular but life is hard right now so fingers crossed. Thank you for sticking with this for another chapter, the story isn't even close to finished.

The woman was slightly pudgy and looked at least 60 years old with long string white hair that somehow reminded Mabel of a pile of bandages on her head. Her skin was a deep caramel and her eyes were outlined in black stretching from the corners. If Mabel wasn’t experiencing what she was pretty sure was a supernatural encounter she would have insisted the woman try her new makeup line and given her a free makeover. She wore a pale yellow polo shirt with black pants and if she was trying to complete the unmarried elderly woman look, than Mabel was sure she was wearing thick-soled white sneakers. A nametag was clipped to her shirt but it was a mess of symbols that looked faintly Egyptian. The sight of what she was fairly sure were hieroglyphs sent a warm feeling down her spine, she knew this woman.  
“Why, hello Mason” the woman spoke pleasantly and nodded at Dipper as though they were old acquaintances. Dippers muscles coiled tighter if that was even possible and it looked like Dipper was sizing up the old woman, trying to decide best how to skewer her with his katana  
“Who are you?” Bill spoke, his demonic growl echoed through Mabel’s bones unpleasantly and she felt as though she was going to puke right then and there. The woman glanced at Bill a look of discomfort and disgust clearly displayed  
“Hello… Bill” She coughed out and then moved her eyes to Mabel and her face contorted to something Mabel could only read as bittersweet adoration  
“Hello…” She addressed Mabel quietly and the sickness in her stomach subsided. She knew this woman, or she didn’t, she was positive she had never seen her before. The creature before them put her hands on her hips and tore her gaze back to the group, recomposing herself.  
“What can I get you guys to eat?” She said pleasantly and her gaze warmed, taking on a motherly type look  
“You didn’t answer my question” Bill hissed and his eyes glowed a bright blue before flickering and finally extinguishing  
“Don’t hurt yourself darling” The woman replied obviously unfazed by Bills little show “we both know you have barely any juice left, not that you ever did compare to me” She sniffed and reached beneath the counter. Dipper startled and took a step back, pushing Mabel flat to the door. He had that caged animal look in his features again and Mabel reached out a comforting hand to lightly press to his shoulder blade. Bill saw Dippers movement as well and their grip on each other’s hand turned bone crushing.  
“Relax dear, just getting you some menus,” the woman said slowly raising three sheets of paper onto the counter with a soft look “I didn’t mean to startle you, now come. I’ll make you a nice meal. I know you haven’t had one in a while” She said and leaned against the industrial fridge in the kitchen with gentle and understanding in her eyes. Mabel was the first to step forward, followed slowly and cautiously by Bill who moved slowly pulling lightly at Dippers hand. The woman, despite the initial reaction seemed like she didn’t pose a threat and a weird feeling of trust towards her coaxed Mabel to take a seat and grab a menu. Dipper stayed attached to Bill and soon, to keep their fingers entwined he reluctantly followed Bill and sat on a stool besides him, taking the menu that was offered. The katana resting on the counter within arms reach. A few moments of silence stretched between the group and the mysterious woman as they all perused the diners menu. Mabel was surprised to find that mixed in with the burgers there were an assortment of weird foods too, like different waterfowls and a whole section dedicated to breads. By now Mabel was thoroughly confused and chose the simple burger with fries just to be safe. Bill asked for the fried chicken fingers and Dipper muttered out some type of salad. The women before them nodded and snapped her fingers; the kitchen sprang to life into a very fantasia-esque situation. Mabel smiled as a floating pile of hamburger meat shaped itself into a patty and fell with a sizzling hiss onto the stovetop.  
“There, now that your food is cooking I guess I’ll have to introduce myself before your pointy friend here fries his own delicate circuiting” The woman gestured to Bill who was frowning, his hand still clamped around Dippers “I am Nephthys, one of the original Egyptian goddesses” she proclaimed and smiled at dipper, ignoring a snort from Bill  
“How do you know me?” Dipper said not even trying to disguise the ice in his voice  
“OH please I know all about you Mason Pines or Dipper I guess is what you call yourself.” She rested her hands on the counter leaning towards the three.  
“That doesn’t answer my question” Dipper pressed “How. Do. You. Know. Me” his fist tightened and he looked agitated. Mabel had never seen her brother look so violent before and if it wasn’t for the thick blackness in her skull and the wards tattooed all over his body she would have thought he was the one under the influence of a bloodthirsty demon trapped a million miles away.  
“Like I said dear, I’m Nephthys, my son is Anubis, caretaker of dead souls, I hear all about his most frequent visitor and how he can’t wait to keep you for all eternity, once you finally do bite the dust for good that is” She smiled and turned collecting their cooked food onto plates and handing it to each one. Mabel took a bite of her hamburger and swallowed it down, it tasted amazing but the gurgling in her stomach forced her to place the barely touched food back to the plate and nibble lightly on the fries, hoping she wouldn’t offend the apparently very creepy Egyptian goddess. Nephthys glanced at Mabel with understanding and turned back to her brother  
“If you are Nephthys than why are you in a diner and making us food when we’re trying to kill Asmodius, Aren’t you supposedly his wife in Egyptian lore?” Dipper said looking up from where he had been picking through his salad  
“His name is Set to me dear and we are husband and wife but we’ve been apart for a while, I’m offering you some kindness because of my sons reverence for your soul Dipper, you should be grateful”. Bill snorted and rolled his eyes causing Nephthys to snarl. Her eyes turned pure white and her teeth turned to rows of sharp fangs that reminded Mabel of a crocodile as she whipped around to face Bill with a snarl. The counter top beneath her hands cracked and Mabel was startled by the sudden pounding sounds of torrential rain on the roof  
“Do not mock me Bill, my kindness can be a force to be reckoned with, I am offering a solution to your cause” She growled out through her sharp teeth and she withdrew her hands from the counter, the rain settling into a quiet drizzle. Mabel wiped a tear from her cheek and looked down in confusion, what? Was she crying?  
“What do you want from us then Nephthys?” Dipper asked drawing her burning gaze from Bill  
“All I ask in return is that you let your dear sister be consumed by my husband so that he may walk this land besides me again” Mabel’s heart began to pound, Dipper would never let her be consumed. She locked gazes with Nephthys and felt a strong pull, she wanted this, she needed this goddess besides them again, and she had missed her presence like the scorching feeling of the sun on their head.  
“Why would we let you do that?” Bill hissed pushing back his plate of chicken fingers  
“He wouldn’t be as powerful as he would if he released himself from prison, he would be like that of a lower demon, he would be harmless. It’s a win for both of us” Nephthys brushed the tears from her eyes and rested a hand onto Dippers with a sympathetic look “you must be tired of all this by now Dipper, running for years, keeping away from your loved ones, dragging along a has-been demon” Dipper was glaring at the goddess and wrenched his hands away from hers rising from his seat he grabbed is katana. With how much power Asmodius had now, Dipper doubted this claim was true, he and Bill would still be hunted and their power still stolen.  
“Never” he replied darkly and swung in a high ark, slicing across Nephthys chest. Bill simultaneously slid from his stool and with ease, grabbed Mabel’s arm and pulled her away from the counter. Mabel swallowed down her sickness and in numbed silence watched as the goddess began to enter her true form, no more motherly looking figure, she was turning into her old self, just like how they remembered her. Dippers attack had done nothing; it was like he had hit a block of solid marble with a stick. The katana splintered into pieces and Dipper threw down the handle quickly back-peddling besides Bill. The goddess’s skin erupted in golden light; her eyes a piercing white and the rain increased again making it sound as though a hail of bullets was pelting the building. A loud shrieking sound erupted from the golden shape of Nepthys as she slashed out with taloned hands, causing Dipper to grunt as he shielded Bill and Mabel quickly from the attack, pushing back at her advances with a white pulse of energy. The prickling on Mabel’s neck turned full body, it felt as though she was being stabbed by millions of needles and had the energy to run 10 marathons. She shook off Bills hands and gasped as the dizziness eased up, why did he keep touching them, why did they hide behind him, this was their wife. They knew Nephthys, this was their closest confidant and in the matter of moments eons passed before their eyes. They shoved Bill to the ground and ripped the knife from his hands, she could kill him now and take their prize. Nephthys was waiting and they would take the world again, together this time.  
“MABEL, Stop! What are you DOING?!” She could barely hear the anguished cry of Dipper echoing through their head like he was far away at the end of a tunnel. They crashed down onto Bills chest, holding him pinned with their knees, they could do it ;they were stronger. Dipper reached for her in desperation but Nephthys advanced again, Dipper was forced to throw up his hands creating a white filmy mass surrounded the threesome. They took a moment to appreciate what good stock Dipper was and to feel excitement at the coming event of draining his blood, power and life at their distant prison. They only needed a moment and everything would fall into place. Mabel’s hand rose up, gripping the knife and plunged it down.  
The tip of the knife thudded into the linoleum of the floor, sinking in about half way. Mabel blinked and pulled the knife from the floor, hand shaking. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Freedom, They wanted to be free and to do that they needed blood. Lots of blood. Resistance wasn’t an option. She couldn’t resist. It was near impossible. But then again many things impossible were actually very possible. Bill surged forward, throwing Mabel to the ground, the knife skittering across the floor and disappearing underneath a nearby booth. Mabel looked up and met Bills eyes and blinked, what had just happened? An earsplitting screech erupted and Mabel turned to find the goddess clawing at the white shield Dipper had created. Dipper, she needed to help, she needed to get out. Mabel stumbled toward Bill and grasped his hand, only wincing at the uncomfortable electric feeling sparking up her arm. Bill however seemed unconcerned that the person who had nearly stabbed him to death was now helping him up. The shield flickered, and Dippers outstretched arms shook, his eyes where clamped shut and he was muttering under his breath.  
“Dipper, I’m ok, we need to get out” Mabel whispered barely audible over the incessant screeching of Nephthys. His eyes snapped open and moved from her to Bill behind her with surprise. A Shudder ran through him and he stumbled backwards, a gold claw sinking through the white and ripping through.  
“No” Nephthys growled “Where is Set, what did you do?” She sank deeper into the white a long feathered arm reaching though the hole towards them. Bill grabbed ahold of Dippers shoulder and steered him towards the large window at the front of the restaurant.  
“I have an idea,” Bill whispered. Dipper nodded and tightened his posture, the white slowly beginning to close around the golden arm contacting her form with a sizzling hiss. Nephthys shrieked and thrashed her arm around, the talon missing Dippers face by a matter of inches.  
“I seem to remember you being more intimidating than this Nephy, didn’t you used to breathe fire?” Bills voice echoed around the room, somehow commanding attention over the unearthly screeches of Nephthys. The goddess’ energy flared and her mouth opened letting forth a torrent of flames that crackled as the traveled around the shield. She forced her shoulder through the whole and Dipper took quick steps back, pushing Bill and Mabel with them. They were almost there.  
“Do not speak of intimidation Cipher, I seem to remember you with three pointy sides, though I must admit, you do look good stuck in this weak body. Just asking to be broken” The Goddess hissed, flames flicking through her crocodile teeth. She pushed her head through, pulling her torso into their space as well. Dipper exhaled sharply and pushed his hands forward. The white sizzled on her skin and her decent upon them slowed. Her face became enraged and she bared her fangs, her aura becoming almost to bright to look at. It seared sunspots into Mabel’s eyes when she blinked and she thought back to her designer sunglasses sitting lonely besides her other summer gear. It was fall after all. The pressure on the white barrier increased and Dipper gritted his teeth, ever so slightly sliding back, away from the angry goddess and towards the window. The rain outside became so strong that a ceiling panel behind Nephthys exploded out of the ceiling, water cascaded down and the deafening sound increased. The combination of Nephthys’ shrieking, the rain and the crackle of Dippers magic bombarded her senses, barely blocking out her own heart thudding ever louder in her ears. She just wanted out, god, she just wanted to be free of all these noises and complications. She wanted to be tucked snuggly in her bed, in her house and go to work at the end of the week and drink her fancy coffee and go over the fall designs with her coworkers. But she couldn’t leave Dipper, not now, not after she had sewed him back together, not after she had experienced the home cooking of a murderous goddess. She hadn’t made Bill pay yet. She winced and stepped farther back, she had to get out of this atmosphere, and she was slowly suffocating under a blanket of black and murderous intent. God, she felt like she was in all those horror movies now, she used to enjoy those things, but now she vowed she would never laugh at an actors poor acting again.  
Nepthys screeched and was now pulling her other arm in. The barrio was shaking and so were Dippers arms. It was now or never. Dipper released the barrier. Nephthys tore forwards, claws slashing towards them; Mabel prepared herself to be shredded into spaghetti. Bill grasped her arm and pushed her to the side and followed as Dipper dodged as well. Nephthys went screaming forward, an angry mass of golden feathers and burning fire tore by them and smashed through the window, evidently breaking whatever charm kept them from leaving. Her body disappeared into the darkness and consuming mass of the pouring water, and so did they. Mabel kept her hand clasped into Dippers soaked sweatshirt and followed him blindly; they were all instantly soaked but could hardly care less. They stumbled blindly towards where they thought their car was and hoped that they didn’t run into Nephthys. Mabel was pulled into the shelter of a car and blinked the water from her eyelashes. Dipper clamored fluidly over Bill, not even using a key to start the car. The light illuminated a continuous waterfall all around them. With windshield wipers on, Dipper floored the gas and turned onto what he hoped was the main road.  
“Did we make it” Mabel breathed as she pushed her wet hair from her eyes and moved into a sitting position, extracting herself from bills body where she had landed. The brief touches burned painfully but she was used to it by now. Suddenly a Flash of gold smashed through the left side of the cars windshield, shredding through part of the roof and bringing the rain crashing back onto them. Nephthys talons tore down into the car, reaching for Bill with angry thrashing. Mabel screamed and Dipper swerved, the car careened into one of the buildings on one of the other street corners, throwing Mabel violently into the back of the drivers seat. Dipper crashed through the windshield and disappeared into the watery abyss. Nepthys, still hanging onto the wrecked car, shrieked again and latched her claws into Bills shoulder as we rebounded into her reach.  
“Who’s intimidating now!” She hissed eagerly. He screamed in pure agony, the noise sending trills of excitement through Mabel’s very bones. She woozily flopped back into her seat, her head felt fuzzier than usual. Turning to her right she watched as the golden talons tore deeper into Bills very human flesh; the pure crimson of blood was a dark patch slowly covering him as he was drenched in the hard rain that was beating its way into the car.  
She should do something she thought lazily as she watched the blood seeping into every surface around Bill. Dipper would never forgive her if she watched his maybe boyfriend get ripped to shreds without lifting a finger. Wasn’t this what she wanted though? Who cares what dipper would think, he had probably been smashed to death when he had been thrown out the window, not even a healing sigil could bring him back from that. She straightened and tried to see straight, tried to think straight, all the contradictions floating through her mind were making it hard to focus. The talons ripped down, drawing another wave of blood and ear piecing scream from Bill, he whimpered and tried to pull away, the blue glow of his eyes barely visible though the heavy and wet atmosphere of the car. That much blood wasn’t good to lose, Mabel remarked as she stared owlishly at Bill. She had never heard him scream before, never seen him bleed or cry out in pain. She had to admit it was quite satisfying. Let him die she told herself, it's what he deserves for what he did, an eye for an eye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, comments and kudos are very much appreciated.


	4. Seatbelt Safety

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, it's short i know, but I wanted to post something. Again forgive me for grammar, I am not very good at proof reading.   
> Also, a warning to those of you kinda sensitive, there is some blood in this chapter, they did get into a crash after all, but you know if that stuff bothers you just be prepared.   
> It's not that much really, just a precaution.

Bills body contorted and a shuddering blast of blue flames flashed across his body and caught ahold of Nephthys’s arm. The Goddess snickered and shook of the feeble flames as though it were mere grains of sand  
“Absolutely pathetic” she hissed and ripped upward, her talons still attached to Bills shoulder. He jerked forward in agony as Nepthys began to extract him from the car.  
“Don’t worry, Cipher, soon you’ll be back in the abyss and your power will be safely consumed,” She trilled out, her golden-feathered arm shaking as she tried to maneuver him through the mess of metal she had made of the top of the car. Mabel groaned and pushed herself towards Bill.  
“Darling, just sit and rest, I’ll be back with you soon.” The goddess blinked a pure white eye at Mabel slowly and then turned back to Bill. No she thought, I don’t want this, I just want to go home, and I just want my life back. She squirmed forward again and grasped firmly at Bills foot, noticing absent-mindedly that he was wearing tattered flip-flops. His jeans were soaked through, the ends fraying at the seems with tears at the knees and fresh red stains. Mabel made a mental note to add that specific red color to her new lip kit that was due to come out next month, it would look good with a nice dark eye. Bill groaned as the Goddess roughly pulled up, slamming his injured side against the jagged metal pieces of the car. Mabel’s grip slipped off Bills leg and thudded to the wet seat, the rain sound unbearable. What would it take for it to be quiet for once? Bills arm was wrangled free and pulled into the outside. Nepthys’s aura cast a weird muted gold into the car, bouncing of the beating rain and making everything look fuzzy.   
“Stop” Mabel mumbled, her eyes slipping close, this was too unreal, too fake; this must be another of her crazy dreams. Fall deeper into the black, a voice told her, it will be soothing and quiet, you don’t have to deal with this, you can go back to your company and be there for the launch of your new lip kit, and clothing line and that cool idea the Jessica proposed. That seems nice she told herself and she slipped down, letting it cradle her, this was much better.  
Suddenly, she wrenched from her mind by Nepthys’ terrified shriek, the noise sending daggers into their core. Bill fell with a heavy thump back into the car, eyes closed, effectively passed out. The golden light flashed through the holes and the screeches seemed to permeate every space, filling her ears with the incessant wailing. Oh God make it stop, she thought. It felt as though her very head was about to burst, that her very ears were shriveling in on themselves, never to hear again. Pity she thought, I had really nice ears.   
__  
Dipper’s ride back to consciousness was rough, and fuck, if he didn’t have to sleep for a week after this he would give Bill a back massage for a month. He rolled over and took a deep breath, feeling his bones reline and snap back together. As his vision cleared, he could make out what was making his chest so itchy. A massive piece of glass was lodged into his sternum, frostily covered by the incessant rain. He took a deep breath and steadied his nerves. Grasping the glass, he pulled up, slowly sliding the foreign object from his body. The sucking sound as he extricated the glass nearly made him puke more than the pain did. He gasped in relief as the piece came free and he tossed to his side, constant thudding filling his head like a swarm of bees drowned the sound that it surely made when it shattered. He breathed slowly, shuddering as the hole began to close and feeling began to return to his legs as his spine reconnected. He needed to get going, Bill and Mabel were still in the car, and Nepthys was still out there. He shifted forward and grasped ahold of a sodden tuft of grass and pushed himself against the rough exterior of the building they had hit. Breathing in again he wiggled his fingers, then toes and counted to ten, then pushed up. He staggered forward and promptly tripped over one of the cars expelled tires.   
“Fuck, shit, fuck, shit” he hissed out, he could feel every single sliver of glass, metal and stone that had been healed over in his body. He would have to dig them out later; right now he had to move. They had hit the building at high velocity, and Mabel and Bill certainly weren’t wearing seat belts. He pushed himself up again and stepped over the tire, taking hesitant steps through the deluge, he couldn’t see for shit in this fucking rain. Bill could be dead right now; he had no sigil, and very little magic to heal him. If Dipper lost Bill there wouldn’t be a point to his struggle, he would have no one. Except Mabel, he thought guiltily, but pushed it down. Save the self-depreciating thoughts for later Dip, now isn’t the time. He stretched out his senses, distancing himself from the throbbing of his body and focusing in his other receptors. There, to the right and forward, he could feel the circulating aura. He turned and settled into a limping jog, his ears just picking up the screeching voice of the Goddess over the ever-present rain sound. Then he heard Bill scream. His blood ran cold and he ran, forgetting his pain, forgetting his common sense about rushing into a battle like this. Not good tactical sense, but he hoped maybe the rain could help cover him, though from a Goddess, no matter how old, he doubted she could be so single minded.   
The noise grew louder and the golden light was clearly visible, a muddy patch in the darkness. He increased speed and loosened his muscles, dragging in every bit of energy he had left. He could see the Goddesses feathered glowing body now, her long taloned arm extended into the cars wreckage. Bill wailed again and Dipper steeled himself, not now, not now. The rain felt like bullets on his skin and there wasn’t an inch of his body that wasn’t soaked, he could have been swimming for all he knew. Bills bloodied arm was pulled free of the cars shell, the Goddess sounded eager, her aura radiating happiness and blood thirst. A foot closer, he could see the white sparks of his energy manifesting around him, his eyes burned and every sigil on his skin prickled. He drew in a ragged breath and threw himself forward; his fist closed around a pure spike of white energy, it sang up his arm and was followed by an arc of steam as it connected with the water. Nepthys turned, her sharp grin instantly falling into a surprised snarl. She tried to shift away but it was too late. His spike sank into her golden form. She screeched and shook, dropping Bill back into the car. Dipper clung to his weapon as she tried to shake him from her mass. Her golden feathers burned his skin like acid. Dipper crinkled his nose as the smell of his own burning flesh scent met his nose. The Goddess reeled back; Dippers feet kicked into her, his shoe soles melting into his feet. He reached back and threw his free arm forward, another energy spike slicing into Nepthys. She wailed again and this time successfully throwing Dipper off her. He landed with jarring thud, his shoulder dislocating. He rolled over and got quickly to his feet, popping his appendage back into place. Nepthys was facing him now, her form becoming more animal, and her aura blinding. Dipper shielded his eyes and summoned his energy, preparing himself for the next blow. She shrieked again and rushed forward and in the blink of an eye she was on him, her teeth snapping at his neck and talons sinking into his arms.   
The magical energy sang and Dipper smiled. He had played it right, with her talons completing the circuit he could end this, and get to Bill, he could heal him and he would be fine. He had to be.   
Dipper closed his eyes and reached into himself, deep down, deeper than anyone advised, deeper than should be safe and he pulled. The piece of him came forward, a rushing torrent of crackling energy. It filled out his body, and it couldn’t be contained, the static found its path into Nepthys and she screamed, he could feel her excruciating pain through the connection, but he didn’t care, he was proud and exceedingly pleased at her misery. She tried to pull away in fear, but Dipper reached forward and grasped her arms, she couldn’t break the bond, it was too late.  
“No, Please Mason, don’t, NO!” She screeched and thrashed but there was nothing she could do. She stared down at him abject terror in her features, his aura fading her power slowly channeling through Dipper and sliding over him like a stream.  
“Sorry, I have a policy of no survivors, surely you’ve heard from Anubis” He whispered, he couldn’t hear himself over the ringing in his ears but by the look of the Goddess he was sure she heard him.  
“This isn’t natural, you shouldn’t be able to do this” She cried and screamed again as her form shuddered, reverting down to the old woman from the diner.   
“You’re only a mortal, you’ll kill yourself,” She shrieked, the rain began to subside and the moonlight was able to slice into view again. Nepthys began heaving in air and collapsed.   
Dipper pushed her limp body off him, her now normal fingers pulling from the deep crevices in his arms. He took a deep breath in and then exhaled, gently settling himself back down; he pulled his energy in and reached forward touching a slowly healing hand to Nepthys face. She jolted awake, and stared at Dipper. Her strength was slowly coming back and if he didn’t act quickly he would be back in the ditch certainly dead this time and Bill would be no better.   
“Please” she croaked, “I wont bother you, I wont ever bother you again, please” she whimpered and tried to move. Dipper smiled grimly  
“I know you’re lying” He summoned an energy spike into his hand and raised it over the Goddess, straddling her feeble form. Her eyes flashed white and glared.  
“You will die, Mason, I have foreseen it. No matter how hard you fight, all paths end in only blood and carnage. You think you can avoid the truth of your power, but it is set in stone. Not even Asmodious can change it. You’re not natural, not normal and you’re cursed to be this thing till my son takes you down to the underworld and eats your soul.” She hissed, eyes glowing white again, her body giving of a golden glow. Dipper blinked calmly, not giving her the satisfaction of seeing his surprise, and plunged the blade down. It sank into her body smoothly; burning the human flesh she had encased herself in and piercing her energy. With a final scream she disappeared, her essences slipping away down into her limbo, where she would spend the next few hundred years collecting every scrap of her power from where Dipper had strewn it. He shook himself, the last dregs of both his and her escaped energy clinging to his skin like mud. The particular sigil at the base of is neck throbbed. He stood wobbly and rubbed at it with annoyance at uncomfortable feeling. Wiping his bloody hands on his soaked jeans he turned to the wreck of the car, it had stopped raining and the sliver of moonlight had increased enough to see the carnage waiting for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading another chapter, any comments and kudos are very much appreciated.  
> Also, please forgive Dippers foul language, he swears when he's stressed.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading the first chapter, the second should be up this week or the next.  
> Any comment or kudos are much appreciated.


End file.
